JUICE-CLEANSE-review

10 Day Juice Cleanse Tips (and before & after shots)

Are you looking for some 10 day juice cleanse tips and maybe want to see some before & after images? If you’re thinking about juice fasting, or whether you’re thinking about doing just a 3 day juice cleanse, juice detoxes can be a fantastic way to reboot your body.

I have done numerous juice detoxes and felt like I needed to share with you what to expect from a juice cleanse. I can say, once you’ve done your first juice fast, it gets much easier the second time round!

When I returned from a year long backpacking trip around the world, it was time for me to ditch the burgers and start to look after my health. I cut out processed foods completely and lived off fruit & veg and steamed chicken or fish everyday. I felt awesome, but then Christmas arrived and it all went out of the window.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Our saving grace from bloated sore bellies over the holiday period reminded us of a documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix. We love watching food documentaries to learn about processed foods etc but this documentary really struck a cord with us. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, it’s about an Australian guy called Joe Cross who goes to America and decides to travel around the country whilst only consuming juice for 60 days. That’s no food, just juice.

By the end of the documentary, Joe ends up inspiring so many people to start juicing too, so much that he’s actually started a bit of a revolution and something that he turned into a future business. I felt great by the end of the show, and we decided that we had to do this juice cleanse soon.

Looking For A Juicer?

We’ve always used this juicer for all of our juice cleanses we’ve ever done. It’s a fantastic affordable juicer and has been an excellent investment for our health.


Why did we decide to go on a juice cleanse?

house-hunters-international-tv-show

I’ve randomly been headhunted to appear on the American TV Show House Hunters International. As a reality show which concentrates on expats living overseas, it was a good excuse to get our health in the best possible shape.

I am now writing this post a day after my 10 day juice cleanse finished.

I managed 10 days of just juice, that’s no food whatsoever, just juice. I felt that it would be good journey for my body to go on and I actually learnt more than I thought I would about mind over belly when it comes to eating.


10 Day Juice Cleanse Review

I honestly thought doing a juice fast was going to be pretty easy considering how good my diet was pre-Christmas. It was in fact really hard, so much so that Steve was doing a better job at holding it together than I was.

The first 3 days were pretty bad, I honestly felt like a zombie with severe jet lag. I couldn’t concentrate at all, I was craving really bad food (which I never do) and my mood swings were all over the place.

By day 4, we both started to feel much better. Maybe it was because we had read that day 4 is the turning point, but it was for us. That didn’t last though and my mood swings were still up and down a lot. It got easier as time went by even though I think either Steve or myself must have moaned about how we were hungry at least once a day. Then out of nowhere my resilience kicked in and I knew as I did from the start that I had to complete this juice cleanse.

It reminded me A LOT of when I did a Vipassana in Sydney (a 10 day meditation retreat) and brought back a lot of memories of the roller coaster of a time I had with my emotions. By the end of that course I felt amazing and I learnt so much which I practice in everyday life such as how to deal with different situations you are faced with each day and learning to let go as everything is constantly changing.

So I bought this juicer and I drank about 4 litres (Steve 5 litres) of juice a day mixing up fruit and veg.


Good Points I’ve learnt from the juice cleanse

I’ve learnt that I really don’t need to eat that much food at all and to watch my portion sizes. My sense of smell has been really heightened and I honestly think most food places I walk past now literally smell of dog food.

I will carry on juicing and eating more of a balanced fruit and veggies ratio in my diet rather than mostly fruit. I’ve also really learnt to appreciate good food as well and even though I realised that I have a big attachment to food through my emotions, it’s learning to separate the two and not turn to food because I had a bad day at work etc.

My skin has cleared up, my hair is so much more healthier and I’ve also lost a fair bit of weight too – a good inch off my belly and a dress size!

I also feel very calm and relaxed now which is a great feeling. I wasn’t the best at drinking a lot of water before I started the cleanse and now I am drinking a lot. I could easily carry on juicing for longer and it’s not the food I’m missing but more of the ‘I simply don’t want to ONLY drink juice anymore’ aspect. I will, however, keep juicing and will probably replace a meal in the evening for a juice a few times a week going forward.

Below are our before and after pictures. The first thing I noticed was how both of our eyes look way more focused and vibrant than in the previous shot. I feel Steve’s face has changed loads, these pictures don’t do him justice!


Bad Points from doing the juice cleanse

There obviously aren’t any bad points but I found it quite messy. I felt like I was ALWAYS cleaning my kitchen and juice seemed to be flying everywhere when I first started.

I even managed to brake my juicer on Day 3 and had to buy another one in my stress to get to work on time after trying to make the juices in the morning. I had to get up an hour earlier for work to make them even though I did read you can put them in the fridge for a couple of days.

I became quite irritable at the beginning – don’t think you’ll just suddenly look amazing, it is definitely hard work and a big roller coaster of emotions comes out at you.

I found it quite expensive, I think between two of us we went to the supermarket 4 or 5 times spending a good $100 each time (although we didn’t plan it very well). I also felt like I had bad breath and my teeth constantly felt quite furry. It was amazing how my taste buds completely changed, even the toothpaste tasted very different.


What happened when I could eat again?

Bread-&-Circus-Sydney-cafes

It’s so funny to think during that long 10 days I was thinking a lot about what food I would have once I finished the cleanse and in actual fact when it came down to eating my first meal, I really didn’t like it.

I went to a healthy restaurant in celebration of finishing the cleanse and chose a simple dish containing brown rice, raw tuna, avocados and cherry tomatoes.

I didn’t want to eat anything rich because I read that you must keep it simple for the first few days but my body really wasn’t enjoying this food. It burnt my throat and all I could taste was salt. I’m definitely going to try to stick to plant based foods from now on.


Top 13 Juice Cleanse Tips

1. Watch the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (and the sequel for when you are at your lowest point during the cleanse for a bit of inspiration)

2. Go onto the Reboot With Joe website to learn all about juicing and print out some of his plans – he has a 5 day, 10 day and 15 day plans with recipes.

3. Join the Reboot With Joe Facebook page. This will seriously do wonders for you and your motivation. There is a big community of juicers on FB that will help you and teach you everything about juice cleansing. I absolutely loved this page and it really helped me a lot.

4. Remember, Day 4 tends to be the turning point so hold on in there!

5. Be patient – it can take a long time before you see any results. I have only started to see results in the last few days. Steve lost 3kg’s in the first 3 days and has lost more since. I lost a total of 2.5kgs which is amazing really. A lot of people can lose 7kg in the first week but each person is different.

6. I would definitely recommend at least a 10 day cleanse because I think it takes that long to fully understand what you are doing to your body and to really get into it. Saying that any amount of time on the cleanse is a brilliant achievement.

7. Try to plan your recipes before you go shopping. We spent an awful lot of money and had to throw some of the greens out as they go off fast.

8. Don’t make any plans while on the cleanse. I didn’t see any friends at all because I knew it would be hard seeing them eat.

9. Start the cleanse on a weekend as you’ll be so tired and have no energy the first few days and the thought of going to work is just going to make it that much harder.

10. Try to stick to 80% veggies and 20% fruit in your juices. This will see the best results.

11. Try to do the cleanse with someone else in your household or a friend. It makes it SO much easier to stick to as you both can really encourage each other when you are feeling like giving up.

12. And lastly book yourself in for 3 colonics in the space of a week either before/during/after the cleanse to really help.

13. After you’ve done your first juice cleanse, the next one will be much easier because you’ll know what to expect 🙂


Juice Cleanse Review

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